Author Archives
John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War" and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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Warren Ellis to deliver Thought Bubble Keynote Talks, 2000AD creator competition details revealed
Thought Bubble has announced they’ll be welcoming comics writer Warren Ellis as a special guest to this year’s convention in Leeds (22nd – 23rd September). Warren will be giving special keynote talks on each day of 2018’s con. You can… Read More ›
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Cosplay Festival comes to Kendal next month
Kendal, home to the long-running Lakes International Comic Art Festival, is to host a new Cosplay Festival – and both organisations will be working together. The town’s Ruskins pub will host a one day event on Sunday 15th July 2018,… Read More ›
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Penultimate 100% Biodegradable headlines a “Funguys” epic from Ian Edginton and Alan Burrows
The penultimate edition of the digital anthology 100% Biodegradable is out now on Comicsy and Drivethru, featuring 46 pages of sci-fi/horror for just 69p/$0.99. Editor David Hailwood will soon bow out on this great title, which has featured some terrific… Read More ›
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Delivering the goods: Don Heck, a much under appreciated artist
Donald L. “Don” Heck was an American comics artist best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics character Iron Man (not the character’s design, but plenty more that shaped him), and for his long run penciling the Marvel superhero-team series The… Read More ›
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Heroes under fire in new Commando comics!
Brand new Commando (issues 5135-5138) from DC Thomson are on sale this week in all good UK newsagents – and they offer a cracking selection of action adventure! Blend in with the night in a dark Spitfire, deploy depth-charges on… Read More ›
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Actor Jim Broadbent and artist Dix talk about their new graphic novel “Dull Margaret” in London this week
London’s Gosh Comics host an event with actor Jim Broadbent and artist Dix tonight (Tuesday 26th June 2018) to discuss their new graphic novel Dull Margaret with Paul Gravett. Copies of the Gosh! exclusive Dull Margaret Bookplate Edition will be available… Read More ›
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Dan Dare wins Gold for ‘Best Digital Drama’ at NYF Awards
UK independent audio drama producer and film maker B7 Media has once again triumphed at the New York International Radio Festival, winning the prestigious ‘Best Digital Drama’ Gold award for volume 2 of its acclaimed audio reinvention of Dan Dare. Needless… Read More ›
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Call for Papers for Comics Forum 2018 – Progress: A Decade of Comics Scholarship
The Call for Papers for Comics Forum 2018 has been released. This year is the tenth anniversary of the annual conference series and to celebrate this milestone, the theme of this year’s conference is Progress: A Decade of Comics Scholarship. Submissions… Read More ›
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2018 Locus Awards win catches “Best Artist” winner (and others) by surprise!
Locus Magazine announced the winners of the 2018 Locus Awards during the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle, Washington, which took place this past weekend. Some of the winners seem to have been pleasantly surprised by their win, including SF and… Read More ›
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Comic Creators work beyond Comics: David Roach, Chris Weston team up for Rebecca Closure EP cover
Just out is a new EP by the immensely talented Rebecca Closure with a cover drawn by David Roach, coloured by Chris Weston, the album package designed by David’s daughter Emily. The cover heroine is Rebecca herself (in typical stage… Read More ›
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Creating Comics: An Interview with artist and writer Olivia Hicks
The latest 2000AD Sci Fi Special was released last week and I mentioned how much I enjoyed the Terror Tale, “The Hockey Sticks of Hell”, from writer Olivia Hicks with art by Abigail Bulmer. Phillip Vaughan, Senior Lecturer at the University… Read More ›
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Judging a Comic by its Cover: Some Early Favourites
More than anything else, comics sell on their covers, but which ones stick most in your mind in your years of collecting? For me, there are plenty, but here are just a few that caught my attention at an early… Read More ›
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Let’s show writers Leah Moore and John Reppion some comics community support
Leah Moore and John Reppion are two talented and, usually, hard working British comic book writers, perhaps best known for their work on 2000AD, their Sherlock Holmes titles for Dynamite Entertainment and Damsels – but right now, they could do… Read More ›
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Out This Week: the 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 2018
This Wednesday (20th June) sees the release of the latest 2000AD Sci-Fi Special, crammed with new strips featuring Judge Anderson, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper and more. This edition is entirely created by women – from writers to artists, colourists to… Read More ›
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In Review: “Knocked out and Loaded” by Michael Jantze
By Michael Jantze Out: Now Includes a gallery of “Norm” inspired art by creators including Sergio Aragones, Jim Borgman, Chris Eliopoulos, Norman Feuti, Paul Gilligan, Rick Kirkman, Kelly McNutt, Joe Murray, Mark Parisi, Lincoln Peirce, Jerry Scott, and many more Young professionals include… Read More ›
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Look Alive, London! Here’s some rare dinosaur invasion art by Don Lawrence
Regular readers of downthetubes will recall we previously covered the short-lived replacement to Look and Learn, Look Alive, highlighting an early appearance of the Alan Grant penned story “The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad”, drawn for the title by Angus McBride,… Read More ›
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VIZ’s Davey Jones in the publicity spotlight (even if he doesn’t want to be)
I’ve known ace VIZ cartoonist Davey Jones since the 1980s, back when he contributed some of his amazing early strips to a fanzine I published (a chaotic assemblage with inconsistent numbering and format sizes, including one edition that literally, physically… Read More ›
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George Herriman’s “Krazy Kat”: First Appearances
George Herriman was an American cartoonist, best known for the influential comic strip “Krazy Kat” – but did you know its much appreciated characters sprang from an entirely different strip? Harriman established a name for himself as a much in… Read More ›
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Frank Bellamy featured in latest “Hot Lead” magazine
Justin Marriott publishes a series of terrific fanzines through Amazon’s Createspace service which are primarily dedicated to vintage paperbacks, but often cross over into comics material. The latest example of this is Hot Lead, which although mainly focused on vintage… Read More ›
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Matt Garvey chats about writing comics and more on latest Lakes International Comic Art Festival podcast
Comics writer Matt Garvey is the guest on the latest Lakes International Comic Art Festival podcast. He’s written a whole host of comics including The Either, Chunks, White Noir and The Devil in Disguise. Hosts Ian Loxam and Nikki Bates talk… Read More ›